Queen Elizabeth on Lookout for Royally Green Thumb
Perk for new royal gardener: living in Balmoral Castle.
Aug. 30, 2011 — -- Tillers and planters, get your resumes ready. Queen Elizabeth II is looking to fill a position for a chief gardener to look after the grounds of Balmoral Castle, her private getaway in Scotland.
The queen is reportedly seeking someone who is self-motivated, has good management skills and requires minimal supervision. The royal gardener will be given the chance to live on the castle's extensive grounds.
While the salary has not been posted, the last gardening job that was advertised, a more junior position, paid about $23,000. But the royal family is known to be plodding about the flower plots. Queen Elizabeth always attends the Chelsea Flower Show, and it is rumored that Prince Charles speaks to his plants.
Balmoral Castle is a 50,000-acre estate 520 miles north of Buckingham Palace in London. It was pruchased in 1848 by Queen Victoria and has served as the royal family's Scottish home since then. Queen Victoria called the castle her "paradise in the Highlands."
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